Former Denver Bronco Billy Thompson, pictured here with his wife, Cathie, was one of the Pink Tie Guys for Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Knowing that one in every seven Colorado women will battle breast cancer in her lifetime is frightening. So much so that it becomes a call to action.

The action can take many forms, and one of the most pleasant is the annual A Pink Tie Affair, an event that would bring 860 survivors, family members, philanthropists and community leaders to the Sheraton Denver Downtown for dinner, dancing, an auction and casino-style games.

Chaired by Kristin Battenfield and Shawn Miller, A Pink Tie Affair 2011 raised $375,000 for the Denver Metropolitan Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure and its work to end breast cancer.

“Our event was made possible by our many longtime supporters, and several who joined us for the first time,” says executive director Michele Ostrander. “We are sincerely appreciative of everyone’s commitment to the fight against breast cancer. We will win this battle.”

The supporters include the Denver Broncos Football Club. Robin Fox, wife of head coach John Fox; Paige Elway, whose husband, Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway, is now the team’s executive vice president for football operations; and Amy Xanders, wife of general manager Brian Xanders, arrived at the gala to present a $10,000 check.

An equally impressive presentation came when Bob Shaw, executive vice president of Great-West Life, received the Komen Denver Ambassador Award. Denver Life magazine sponsors this honor given to an individual, business or organization whose generous support and innovative activities have significantly assisted the Komen Denver Metropolitan Affiliate in advancing its mission of saving lives and ending breast cancer.

Shaw, who has encouraged Great-West employees to participate in all 19 Komen Denver Race for the Cures, has been a member of the Denver affiliate’s board for six years. In 1997, the fight against breast cancer became personal for Bob and his family when he lost his mother to the disease. Two years later, his wife, Lori, was diagnosed; today, she’s a 12-year survivor.

9News anchors Mark Koebrich and Kim Christiansen served as masters of ceremony, a duty that included the introduction of the Pink Tie Guys, whose members are part of an awareness campaign aimed at engaging men in the breast cancer movement and empowering them to be involved.

In April, Denver Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure presented $2.9 million to 21 organizations in its 19-county area, bringing its total Colorado investment to $28 million. An additional $11 million has gone to national breast cancer research. In 2010 alone, $2.7 million in Denver affiliate funding supported 7,000 screening services and nearly 200 treatment services. The money also helped educate 35,000 people about breast health.

Ernie Blake and Sharon Magness Blake. (Steve Peterson, Special to The Denver Post)

It goes without saying that you’re going to see a lot of pink at Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s annual dinner-dance, A Pink Tie Affair. What makes it interesting is the many ways in which people choose to wear it.

Chairwoman Sharon Magness Blake, as you can see in the photo at right, was stunning in hot pink. She’s a five-year breast cancer survivor, and enlisted her husband, attorney Ernie Blake, to serve as one of the gala’s seven Pink Tie Guys. The others were Gov.-elect John Hickenlooper; Denver Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton; Independence Elementary School principal Matthew McDonald; Larry Trujillo, head of the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security; retired Coorstek chairman Joseph Coors Jr.; and 9News anchor Mark Koebrich, who emceed the benefit.

The young professionals kickoff for Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s 2010 Pink Tie Affair may have happened on a Broncos Sunday, but attendance didn’t suffer because the big-screen TVs at Shanahan’s Steakhouse were tuned to the game and guests didn’t miss a play.

Alexis Hart, Lauren Cannon Davis and Cora Sexton coordinated the get-together hosted by gala chair Sharon Magness Blake. In addition to watching the game, guests also were treated to a Neiman Marcus fashion show and samplings from the Shanahan’s menu.

The Pink Tie Affair takes place Saturday at the Sheraton Denver Downtown and includes silent and live auctions, casino games and dancing to Big Bang. The chance to travel with the Broncos to their Arizona game in December is among the items up for bid, along with a custom-made piece of jewelry from Hyde Park, a trip to Las Vegas and a round of golf at the Sanctuary.

Susan G. Komen for the Cure grant recipients pose for a group photo after $2.7 million is awarded at Denver banquet. (Sandy Puc, Special to The Denver Post)

Denver Metropolitan Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure® has awarded grants totaling $2.7 million to 28 area nonprofit organizations that support 37 local breast cancer projects. The money was given at Hope for the Cure, a banquet attended by recipients and others who support the Komen organization’s mission of saving lives and ending breast cancer.

“We are pleased to partner with community organizations to help provide life-saving breast cancer education, screening, treatment and support services through these grants,” said Michele Ostrander, executive director of the Denver affiliate. Recipients, she added, are agencies and organizations that meet the needs defined in a community profile assessment conducted earlier this year.

Forty-one percent of the funds were earmarked for those providing screening/diagnostic services. Smaller percentages went to agencies and organizations providing treatment services, treatment support, education and outreach, technical assistance and small grants, and coalition-building activities.

The Komen Denver Metropolitan Affiliate is part of the 125-affiliate network of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the world’s largest and most progressive grassroots network fighting to end breast cancer. The affiliates, Ostrander noted, are the “Face and voice of Komen for the Cure’s global breast cancer movement in communities around the world. Through local events and activities, the Komen Denver Metropolitan Affiliate mobilizes and educates thousands of community members while raising funds to support community-based breast cancer programs.”

In order to ensure it is funding programs that address the specific unmet breast cancer needs, the Komen Denver Metropolitan Affiliate works with local health care professionals and community leaders to conduct a comprehensive community needs assessment. This community profile, conducted in all Komen affiliates, is then used to establish local grant priorities consistent with the organization’s standards and mission.

Last year, Susan G. Komen for the Cure affiliates, working in concert with local organizations, awarded more than $80 million in needs-based community grants. That’s in addition to the 25 percent of their income that affiliates contribute toward the many millions the organization invests each year in promising research.

Study after study has shown that when it comes to charitable fundraisers, Denver has more per capita than any comparably sized city in the nation. Joanne Davidson has been covering them for The Denver Post since 1985, coming here from her native California where she'd spent the previous seven years as San Francisco bureau chief for U.S. News & World Report magazine.